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CollectionEditor Class

.NET Framework 4

Other Versions

Provides a user interface that can edit most types of collections at design time.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
  System.Drawing.Design.UITypeEditor
    System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor
      More...

Namespace: System.ComponentModel.Design
Assembly: System.Design (in System.Design.dll)

Syntax

C++

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public class CollectionEditor : UITypeEditor

The CollectionEditor type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	CollectionEditor	Initializes a new instance of the CollectionEditor class using the specified collection type.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	CollectionItemType	Gets the data type of each item in the collection.
	CollectionType	Gets the data type of the collection object.
	Context	Gets a type descriptor that indicates the current context.
	HelpTopic	Gets the Help keyword to display the Help topic or topic list for when the editor's dialog box Help button or the F1 key is pressed.
	IsDropDownResizable	Gets a value indicating whether drop-down editors should be resizable by the user. (Inherited from UITypeEditor.)
	NewItemTypes	Gets the available types of items that can be created for this collection.

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Methods

	Name	Description
	CancelChanges	Cancels changes to the collection.
	CanRemoveInstance	Indicates whether original members of the collection can be removed.
	CanSelectMultipleInstances	Indicates whether multiple collection items can be selected at once.
	CreateCollectionForm	Creates a new form to display and edit the current collection.
	CreateCollectionItemType	Gets the data type that this collection contains.
	CreateInstance	Creates a new instance of the specified collection item type.
	CreateNewItemTypes	Gets the data types that this collection editor can contain.
	DestroyInstance	Destroys the specified instance of the object.
	EditValue(IServiceProvider, Object)	Edits the value of the specified object using the editor style indicated by the GetEditStyle method. (Inherited from UITypeEditor.)
	EditValue(ITypeDescriptorContext, IServiceProvider, Object)	Edits the value of the specified object using the specified service provider and context. (Overrides UITypeEditor.EditValue(ITypeDescriptorContext, IServiceProvider, Object).)
	Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetDisplayText	Retrieves the display text for the given list item.
	GetEditStyle	Gets the editor style used by the EditValue method. (Inherited from UITypeEditor.)
	GetEditStyle(ITypeDescriptorContext)	Gets the edit style used by the EditValue method. (Overrides UITypeEditor.GetEditStyle(ITypeDescriptorContext).)
	GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetItems	Gets an array of objects containing the specified collection.
	GetObjectsFromInstance	Returns a list containing the given object
	GetPaintValueSupported	Indicates whether this editor supports painting a representation of an object's value. (Inherited from UITypeEditor.)
	GetPaintValueSupported(ITypeDescriptorContext)	Indicates whether the specified context supports painting a representation of an object's value within the specified context. (Inherited from UITypeEditor.)
	GetService	Gets the requested service, if it is available.
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	PaintValue(PaintValueEventArgs)	Paints a representation of the value of an object using the specified PaintValueEventArgs. (Inherited from UITypeEditor.)
	PaintValue(Object, Graphics, Rectangle)	Paints a representation of the value of the specified object to the specified canvas. (Inherited from UITypeEditor.)
	SetItems	Sets the specified array as the items of the collection.
	ShowHelp	Displays the default Help topic for the collection editor.
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)

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Remarks

Notes to Inheritors

This editor can edit collections that have an Item property. The editor can determine the type of the collection from the Item property, if it exists. If the collection does not have this property, or if you want to provide collections of more than one type, you can override certain protected members of this class to customize the editor to support other types of collections.

Examples

The following code example uses an EditorAttribute to associate the CollectionEditor with a property.

C++

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[EditorAttribute(typeof(System.ComponentModel.Design.CollectionEditor), typeof(System.Drawing.Design.UITypeEditor))]
public ICollection testCollection
{
    get
    {
        return Icollection;
    }
    set
    {
        Icollection = value;
    }
}
private ICollection Icollection;

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Reference

System.ComponentModel.Design Namespace

UITypeEditor

Inheritance Hierarchy

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FAQ

*** Be carefull ***

Seems that though it is in System.ComponentModel.Design as stated, but it relies on (inherrited from) UITypeEditor which is in System.Drawing.Design. So, either that ref is also needed or System.Design

Otherwise gives a The type or namespace name 'CollectionEditor' does not exist in the namespace 'System.ComponentModel.Design' (are you missing an assembly reference?) error.

BTW I found a bug report about thius way back in VS2005 (accepted as reporduceable and "will be investigated" by Microsoft, but with no further comments)

History

5/31/2011
Wolf5370

Generic Collections Fix

1) create a custom collection editor $0 $0 $0public class GenericCollectionEditor<T>:CollectionEditor$0 $0 {$0 $0 public GenericCollectionEditor(Type Type):base(Type){}$0 $0$0 $0 $0 protected override object SetItems(object editValue, object[] value)$0 $0 {$0 $0 if (editValue == null) { editValue = new List<T>(); }$0 $0 return base.SetItems(editValue, value);$0 $0 }$0 $0$0 $0 $0 protected override object CreateInstance(Type itemType)$0 $0 {$0 $0 if (itemType == typeof(string)) { return ""; }$0 $0 return base.CreateInstance(itemType);$0 $0 }$0 $0 }$0 $0 $0 $0$0 $0 $02) Add the EditorAttribute with the custom collection editor to the property you want to use it$0 $0 $0[System.ComponentModel.Editor(typeof(GenericCollectionEditor<string>), typeof(System.Drawing.Design.UITypeEditor))]$0 $0 public System.Collections.Generic.List<string> MyGenericCollection { get; set; }$0 $0

History

5/18/2011
aronmek